


you've been asleep while I've been in hell

by zahnie



Category: Angel: the Series
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Gen, Grocery Shopping, Pre-Relationship, Tacos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-20 19:04:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18531250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zahnie/pseuds/zahnie
Summary: Fred runs into an old coworker a little while after coming back from Pylea.





	you've been asleep while I've been in hell

**Author's Note:**

> Set near the beginning of Angel season 3.
> 
> So I was listening to [I Said Hi by Amy Shark](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K4KwuV2l4s) and realized it's such a Fred song, esp for her early re-adjustment to being back from Pylea.
> 
> greenmonstermash and I have been watching Angel together for months and we always talk about fics that should exist so, surprise! Here's one I didn't even have the idea for until like 2 hours ago!

“Oh my god, Winifred?”

Fred freezes, hand halfway to the tortilla shells. The voice behind her is familiar and out of context.

She takes a deep breath and turns, trying to force a normal expression onto her face. So normal, just getting groceries, everything is fine.

The woman is middle-aged, wearing a dark blue cardigan, and has her glasses on a gold chain around her neck. “It _is_ you!” she exclaims and takes a step toward Fred.

Fred automatically takes two steps back. She manages not to cringe or cower but her feet move without conscious direction. These days, she either thinks about things too much or doesn't think about them at all. Middle ground is elusive.

“Remember me? Karen? From the library!” The woman, Karen, smiles wider with each sentence fragment. Fred has to hold herself forcibly back from counting her teeth. It shouldn't be possible to display all thirty-two in a friendly smile.

“Hi,” Fred says.

“It's been so long! What have you been up to?” Karen asks.

Well, let's see. First, there was the falling through a portal to a hell dimension five years ago and then the being a fugitive and the living in a cave all alone, trying to figure out how to go home, and wondering more and more over time if she'd made up Los Angeles and Texas and indoor plumbing and all-you-can-eat buffets. It had all seemed much, much too good to be real.

“Travelling,” Fred blurts out. “All over. Been to some pretty strange places!” She laughs. It sounds too loud, even with the tinny pop music on the grocery store speakers and the ambient rattle of other people's shopping carts. Fred winces but tries not to show it.

Karen blinks. “Oh? Well, that's wonderful.”

There's a moment of awkward silence. Fred tries to think of something, anything, to fill it. “What... what have you been up to?” she stammers. Conversations go in rhythms, she remembers that much. Hers are still choppy and uneven. It's easier when she's back at the hotel, where they all know where she was. It's harder too, sometimes, because they think they know more than they actually do.

Fred misses the beginning of Karen's answer but makes herself pay attention as she keeps talking. “...and we have just the _loveliest_ new Children's Storytime volunteer. He wears all this green make-up, fake horns, the whole nine yards. Mary—you remember Mary—she was saying he'd give the kids funny ideas but _really_ , if he wants to dress up, what's the harm? We need more diversity with our programming anyway.”

“What's his name?” Fred asks, frowning.

Karen looks uncomfortable. “Um, I don't know if I should...” She trails off.

“It's just that I think I might know him!” Fred says, pushing more cheer into her voice so Karen knows it's okay. “Is it Lorne? It sounds like Lorne, who I know!”

“Yes! Isn't he a darling? And so good with the children.”

“He's great,” Fred says, and means it.

“Sorry that took so long, I—oh, hello,” Wesley says, stepping out from behind her. He blinks at Karen and fixes his glasses with the hand that isn't holding the jar of salsa Fred sent him to find. It's all she can do not to grab it from him and start eating it with her fingers. She used to _dream_ about salsa back in Pylea.

Karen coughs and says, “Hi, I'm Karen. Fred and I used to work together.”

“Oh, at the library?” Wesley asks, looking interested.

Fred remembers about introductions then. “Karen, this is Wesley. He's my friend.”

Wesley beams. Karen smiles back.

“Okay, I've got sour cream and cheddar cheese _and_ hamburger so we should be good to go.” Charles says, joining them. He raises his eyebrows when he sees Karen.

“And this is Charles,” Fred says, grinning at the food he's carrying. “They're helping me shop since sometimes I get a bit—”

“Overenthusiastic,” Charles cuts in, smiling. “We have enough peanut butter to feed a small army.”

“We _are_ a small army!” Fred cries, excited she found a connection to concrete reality in his hyperbole. Five people is quite a small army but they definitely are fighting against evil forces.

“I'll let you get on with your shopping, then,” Karen says, eyes flicking between the three of them. “Good to see you're doing so well, Winifred. Make sure you pop by to visit us at the library sometime.” She turns to leave.

A phrase from another life floats into Fred's mind and she grabs it with both hands. “Tell them all I said hi,” she says, smiling in relief that the conversation is almost over.

“I will. Bye!”

“Bye!” the three of them chorus brightly in unison.

As soon as Karen is out of sight, Wesley asks, quietly, “Are you okay?”

Fred brushes her cheeks with the backs of her hands, wiping the sudden tears away. “It's just...” She waves at where Karen was standing. “She has no idea.”

Charles nods. “Yep. Some people don't know how good they have it.”

Wesley nods too.

Fred smiles at their worried faces. “I'm fine, it's okay. In fact, I'm better than fine because _we_ are going to have _tacos_.”

“Damn straight, we are,” Charles says. “All you can eat.”


End file.
